Hollie and Greg's Wedding

I did my second wedding this week, for the lovely Hollie and her new husband Greg. I'm so pleased with how the flowers came out and Hollie loved them! The green roses were a bit of a nightmare to work with so I'll avoid that in the future if I can, but otherwise they came out really well.

I made the bride's bouquet, three bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes for the groom and best man, buttonholes for five ushers, corsages for the mothers of the bride and groom and several arrangements for the wedding cake. Luckily they had artificial arrangements for the tables - one day I'm sure I will be able to manage them as well but I'm very much a beginner so this was enough for now!

The last three photos aren't mine, they're all from Hollie's Facebook. I just thought they showed off the flowers really well and she looks so lovely.

How far can a bunch of spray roses go?

Quite far is the answer! I bought a bunch of spray roses from Waitrose, I was looking for white but they didn't have any so I bought this amazing pink and white bunch instead. I was originally just planning to make the bouquet - I'd seen a photo in a magazine with the wire collar in a bowl shape and I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately I ran out of pink wire which is why it looks a little sparse in a few of the photos! I love the outcome though - it's probably not big enough for a bride but it would be good for a bridesmaid.

The foliage used in these is all from my mum's garden - she's planted a load of stuff just so I can use it in my arrangements, bless her.

I really enjoy making teacup arrangements so I thought that was an ideal use for some of the spare roses. I also still had some gyp from a previous arrangement so I used some of that as well. I'm not sure what the little berries are but the pink edges go perfectly with the roses!

The buttonholes were a bit of an afterthought but they meant I didn't waste any roses! I've never made a proper buttonhole before either so I thought it would be good to get some practice in before the summer when I've got my first two weddings! I may be blowing my own trumpet but I think they're pretty good for a first attempt! And I wired them all then covered them to finish them off.

Wedding: week 6

We made two designs at college this week - a corsage and a designer buttonhole. The corsage is very similar to the one we made before but my technique is better this time - I've practiced my wiring and taping so it's a bit more delicate and light now.

The buttonhole was fun - the wiring technique is quite clever but very simple once you know how to do it. If you make it small enough it would probably make a nice brooch as well so I may give that a try at some point.